Gold continues to build on its steady upward rally and holds near its highest levels since April 2022, updated during Thursday’s Asian session. The XAU/USD pair is quoted at $1940 per troy ounce and retains the potential to test $1950.

Market participants are in no hurry to open new positions ahead of the publication of key U.S. statistics on the dynamics of gross domestic product (GDP) for the fourth quarter. Analysts expect the figure to decline from 3.2% to 2.6%, which may increase the likelihood of softening the hawkish rhetoric of the U.S. Federal Reserve System.

Recall, the next meeting of the U.S. regulator will be held on February 1, during which the FedReserve may announce an interest rate increase of only 25 basis points. A similar decision may be taken on the results of the March meeting, after which a pause is expected to assess the effectiveness of measures already taken.

In comparison, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of England are so far more determined. In addition, the Bank of Japan, which has long maintained a dovish monetary policy, may soon begin to tighten it as well.

The probability that the American regulator will soon complete the next cycle of monetary policy tightening continues to weigh on the positions of the dollar, the index of which updated a multi-month low the day before and fell to 101.40. If the dollar sell-off intensifies today after the release of US GDP data, gold will have an opportunity to renew local highs.

The XAU/USD pair is also supported by hopes for further recovery of economic activity in China, where the government has been gradually lifting quarantine restrictions since December. The China Gold Association earlier reported a 10.63% decline in consumption of the metal last year, while demand for jewelry fell by 8%.

However, experts are confident that the opening up of the economy will dramatically change the situation for the better, and China will again make a tangible contribution to the overall figure of global demand for precious metals.